5 strength sports for actually enjoying training

We have something in common, you and I. We're both chasing strength, building muscles (without eating any!), developing our athleticism, and generally just trying to become stronger people.

This is our goal but there are many roads to achieve it.

When wanting to upgrade their biomachine the standard option most people seem to go for is to mindlessly drag their as to the local gym. There they either execute some three-day-split routine from Men's Fitness or just grind the treadmill.

No wonder people hate trainingâ€¦ The same boring thing, day in and day out, with nothing but fuzzy, superficial goals looming somewhere ahead.

You'll spend many, many hours improving your body and performance, so why not have fun meanwhile?

Try some new forms of training every now and then.

There are five common strength sports: powerlifting, girevoy sports, weightlifting, CrossFit, and strongman. Between them I'm certain you'll find something you'll love.

Why not bodybuilding? They use the same equipment and exercises like some of the above strength sports but their goal is very different. Bodybuilders want to look strong, while these sports want to truly you make you strong.

(We'll have a look at bodyweight training later â€“ subscribe now so you don't miss that article!)

Powerlifting is probably the sport that most average Joes will feel the most familiar with.

It began in the US and the UK in the 50s' and was originally called "odd lifts", because of all the various objects they lifted.

However, since the 60s' competitions in powerlifting â€“ also called meets â€“ consist of three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. Thus, those lifts (and their variations) are what powerlifters train the most.

Funny trivia: in the UK, before the mid 60's, powerlifters used to compete in biceps curls instead of deadlifts.

It's very common to hear people confusing weightlifting with the act of simply lifting weights, where the former is an actual olympic sport. Hence it's often called olympic weightlifting or OLY for short.

Just as with powerlifting all the main training in weightlifting is done with a barbell. Although it differs a little between the sports, it's really nothing you and me will notice much.

One thing we will notice however is the different weights. Since weightlifting is all about throwing heavy weights overhead it happens that you need to drop the bar from a high altitude and that's no good with iron plates. Instead weightlifting uses rubber coated weights â€“ bumper plates.

Funny trivia: weightlifters actually generate more power in their lifts than do powerlifters.

The two lifts in weightlifting are snatch and clean and jerk and for their demonstration we'll use some beautiful Hookgrip slow motion videos.

During the clean, the weightlifter pulls the bar from the floor to a racked position resting on the shoulders. This is followed by the jerk, during which the weightlifter raises the bar overhead on locked-out arms, finishing with her body in a fully extended position.

CrossFit's about preparing you for the unknown (general physical preparedness). This is done by practicing a wide variety of exercises, ranging from light to heavy weights, long grinding workouts to short intensive ones.

If you think all of the strength sports in this article sounds like fun, then CrossFit might be for you. It borrows freely from weightlifting, kettlebell lifting, gymnastics, etc, and combines them in some very interesting (and super tough) workouts.

There are just way too many exercises to show to get a good picture of what CrossFit is. Instead, have a look at this recap from CrossFit Games 2015 â€“ the annual "olympics of CrossFit".

You have probably seen or at least heard of the World's Strongest Man competition. That's the equivalent of the World Cup of Strongman.

Another popular Strongman competition is the Highland Games in Scotland.

It's a sport that primarily requires the guys (and girls!) to be incredibly strong. But not only do they lift heavy objects â€“ they also have to move them over long distances and quickly so.

This is true functional training!

Competitions can be one part regular lifts like squats, deadlift, and press but all done with odd objects. Other parts are loading atlas stones, carrying crosses, flipping tractor tires and pulling trucks.

Have a look at the Europe's Strongest Man from a few years back, to see the different events they compete in.